Friendly competition

It all began on a faithful afternoon. With the day's classes over, some students headed to their dorms or the library, while others got some food. Such was the case with Yona, Sandbar, and Ocellus. But today they decided that instead of staying at the cafeteria, they went to a little special place, a pond not too far from the school; one of the places they first met more than a month ago.

"A nice place, isn't it?" said Sandbar "And look what my mom made for us!". He then pulls out a bag of homemade beagles and opens it, taking one out for himself and letting the girls have theirs.

"Oh, thank you! That's so kind of your mom", said Ocellus while getting her beagle from the bag, "Sandbar's mom's food is the best!" said Yona while eating hers.

"I'm glad you girls liked them. Hopefully the others think the same".

"I wouldn't worry", answered Ocellus, "Gallus is always buying some from that bakery in town".

But the minutes passed and their friends still hadn't arrived.

"Huh, they should be here already, wonder what's the hold up", said Sandbar as he checked the time.

"Maybe Professor Twilight took a few extra minutes to finish her class, it's the last class of the day after all" said Ocellus.

Yona added "Silverstream told Yona that Professor Rarity wanted to talk with her about her project".

"Maybe they are waiting for her" responded Sandbar. With this they sat there, chatting and eating, while waiting for their friends to arrive. They wouldn't have to wait for long, tho.

Soon enough they saw, or rather heard, their friends making their way to them. It appeared that Gallus and Smolder were discussing something, rather loudly.

"Hi, guys! everything alright?" asked Sandbar, pointing out how they could hear their argument.

"Oh hey, Sandbar, yeah everything it's alright, we just had a... little disagreement" Gallus assured him.

"Yeah... quite the disagreement" said Silverstream, amused by her friends. Their friends felt like they were missing some important context.

"So... what was all that about?" asked Ocellus.

"Well... feather brain here is arguing that he is more "athletic" than me, only because I supposedly get more tired than him in Rainbow Dash's class".

This made them laugh a little, and Sandbar jokingly asked Gallus "You can't be serious, right?" while giggling.

The griffon was less than amused by this, still but explained himself. "Of course I am. You haven't seen her when Rainbow Dash takes us out to the field. She always ends up panting and sitting on the ground, exhausted, while I feel like I'm barely getting a workout" said Gallus in his usual ironic tone, but his friends gave him a very doubtful look, so he relented "Okay maybe I get a bit tired too, but only because it's boring cardio and team exercises".

"Hey, don't confuse me being bored and lazy with me not being in shape" Smolder said. "But, I kinda agree that just running on the track and dodgeball isn't what I would call a workout, but still you are *very* mistaken if you think you are stronger than me" She added.

"Well, I didn't specifically mean strength, but..." Gallus passed to think for a moment, a discrete smile creeping out on his face. "How about we find out?".

Smolder raised an eyebrow as she stared at him, now with arms crossed, "Are you sure you want that?".

Sandbar started getting worried about where this could go stood up and pulled Gallus aside "Gallus, can I have a quick word with you?" he said, "Do you really have no idea how strong dragons are? They don't tend to lose to, well, anyone in that department".

"Well, I was taught a lot of things about you guys that aren't quite true, like that changelings were love-sucking master manipulators, for example" said Gallus, sighing before continuing, "I've learned a lot about other creatures in my stay here, so... maybe she isn't as tough as you think". This didn't quell Sandbars' concerns.

"Dude –well it's nice of you to say that– but dragons being way stronger than almost everyone it's more of a fact rather than a stereotype". This didn't seem to persuade Gallus. But before either of them could say anything else, Smolder appeared behind them.

"So, how do you want to find out, Gally?" She said with an evillish smile.

"Oh boy" Sandbar thought, "Well, It was nice knowing you" he said as he quickly retreated with the others, who seemed both curious and concerned about what would happen.

Smolder turned back to Gallus, "So, you got anything in mind?" She asked.

"Well..." He paused trying to come up with anything he could challenge her. "How about arm wrestling?" He said. His four friends internally face-palmed upon hearing this. "Something quick, we could use that rock over there as a table" added Gallus.

Smolder thought for a moment before saying "Yeah, why not?" with a confident smile.

Now that they both agreed to the match, they went over to said rock.

"Hey Smolder, try not to break his arm" Silverstream told Smolder.

"Don't worry, I know how to restrain myself, he'll be fine".

With that said, both Gallus and Smolder settled on the rock, placing themselves on opposite sides, then rested their elbows on the relatively flat top of the rock, and grabbed each other's hands.

But before they started Smolder asked Gallus "You still wanna find out the hard way?".

To which he answered, " Well, we're already here, so... yeah, let's find out". He wanted to appear confident, but the warnings and concerned looks of his friends made him have second thoughts, but it was too late to bail out for his ego.

"Alright, on your mark then" said Smolder. "Okay... 3... 2... 1..." Gallus wanted to surprise her by not giving a Go signal, applying all his strength in an explosive matter, a classic move that had won him a few matches back in Griffonstone. But today was different. To his surprise, he wasn't gaining any ground, Smolder wasn't flinging and didn't even look like she was trying. Oh no, he thought; realizing the difference in strength, his only option was to commit and try to keep up the pressure, because the longer this went on, the worse his chances got.

At this point, their friends got up and got closer to get a better look at this match.

"He's... not doing great there" said Ocellus.

"Yeah, but Smolder won't hurt him" added Silverstream.

"I'm more worried about him hurting himself if he keeps going" said Sandbar in a concerned tone, so he attempted to intervene, to give Gallus an exit.

"Hey Gallus, don't overstrain yourself, you can get hurt".

Gallus, still focused on the match, replied "I'm doing fine!", but he was, in fact, not doing fine. He was starting to get tired, he had been applying full force for a solid minute and just started to feel a burning sensation in his arm, and worst still, Smolder's arm hadn't moved.

Smolder could see he was straining himself, as his arm started to tremble from the effort he was making, so she decided to poke fun at him.

"You tired already? C'mon Gally show me what you got!" She challenged him. He was taken aback a bit, but still, doubled down, trying to hold his ground. This went on for another minute. Smolder was starting to get bored, but like Gallus, she wasn't backing down, but she wasn't the only one getting bored.

Seeing Gallus exhausting himself, Silverstream quietly whispered to Sandbar "She's just playing with her food at this point, should we do something about it?". This gave Sandbar an idea.

"Hey guys" he said to the wrestling pair, who looked over to him "Would you want some beagles? My mom made them for us!".

He took them by surprise given their looks; but still Gallus didn't stop, but then he looked back at Smolder, who also looked at him, then back at the bag Sandbar was dangling, thinking for a second.

She then looked back to Gallus, and said "Well Gallus, this has been fun-".

Gallus interrupted her "Wait- you can't quit now!".

She answered, with a smile "Who said I was going to quit?".

She then slowly started to force Gallus's arm down. He tried to resist her push but to no avail.

And as she was about to win she said "As I was about to say, I really want those beagles", then brought Gallus's arm down completely.

An obvious victory for Smolder. After finally defeating Gallus, they both got up and went to join their friends -and get their beagles-, Gallus checking his right arm, tired from the whole ordeal. Now that they were all together, they spent their time talking and relaxing, getting much-needed rest. But the afternoon was still young.

As they were preparing to leave, picking up their trash, Sandbar walked over to Gallus to ask him about his arm. "How's your arm doing?".

Gallus held his arm, flexing it a bit "It seems fine, but still a bit sore".

Sandbar smirked and asked him "Are you too tired for another round?". This took his friend by surprise. It looked like there was going to be one last match before leaving.

Gallus smiled and said "What, do you want a go at it?" ready for whatever challenge he had for him.

"Well, after you then" Sandbar replied, inviting him to take his place at the same rock, and then said "Oh, and if you feel your claw is too tired, I'm okay using the left one".

Gallus answered "Don't worry, I've rested enough for another round".

As Gallus and Sandbar set themselves on the rock, their friends sat nearby to enjoy the show.

"Oooh this is going to be interesting" said Smolder as she sat down, then asked her friends "Hey girls, who do you think is going to win?".

Ocellus thought for a moment "I'll go for Sandbar, it's too soon for him to recover his strength".

"I don't know about that, I think Gallus still has better chances" said Silvestream.

"Yeah, he kept pushing full force for like two minutes straight" Smolder added.

Yona, like Ocellus, supported Sandbar, saying "Griffon may be strong, but earth ponies are strong too!".

"Maybe they are the stronger ponies, but of what use is that if he doesn't workout?" said Galus poking fun at his friend.

Sandbar was not amused and responded "Hey! I DO workout... every now and then, but still, I'm no stranger to the gym".

"We'll see..." said Gallus.

Sandbar and Gallus then sat on opposite sides of the rock, clasped their claw and hoove, ready to begin. "Ready?" Sandbar asked Gallus, who answered "Ready!". With this confirmation, Snadbar started the countdown "3... 2... 1!" and began.

They started evenly matched. Both were holding their own, resisting the other's efforts; but it was visible they were giving it their all. Their friends started cheering them on, but both were still locked in a stalemate, but not for long.

"Tired already, Sandbar? I'm stopping you with my tired arm" Gallus mocked Sandbar while giggling. Sandbar scuffed and answered "Well you aren't doing too hot either, besides, I'm not the genius who tried arm-wrestling a dragon".

Gallus wanted to respond, but chose not words, but action, as he felt his chance to win was close. He could see Sandbar was making a great effort just to keep him from forcing his hoove down. So he took a big breath, focused, gathered all the strength he could in that arm, and then pushed. Now Sandbar was starting to lose, he tried to resist, but Gallus quickly got halfway through, so he decided to counter his push by hooking, hoping that whatever strength had left could at least stop Gallus.

"C'mon Gallus you got him now!"Smolder and Silvestream cheered Gallus on. "Don't give up Sandbar, you can do it!" cheered Ocellus and Yona, motivating Sandbar to keep pushing. But to no avail.

Just as soon as Gallus was stopped, he took another deep breath and pushed through, putting great strain on his already strained arm. Sandbar tried to hold his defense, also straining his arm, but he had already run out of energy and strength. Gallus made one final push and finally brought Sandbar's hoove down.

"Dang it!" said Sandbar, as he let go of Gallus' claw, who was enjoying his victory.

"Ha, I win!" said Gallus, excited for at least ending the day with one win.

"Good one Gallus, at least you got your technique down" said Smolder as she patted him on the back. They then finished picking up their things to head back to campus.

Just as they were leaving, Gallus again walked over to Sandbar, intending to cheer him up "Hey, it was a really close one for me, you did great" trying to cheer him up, but he couldn't help himself and added "At least you lost to the best-" he corrected himself "second best... of the group". Sandbar thanked him for his "comforting" words as they carried on back to the school.

But some hours later...

Now they were in their dorm. Most were hanging out in the lounge, except Gallus, who was doing an assignment. He was almost done with it, but he'd been thinking about something that he couldn't shake out for the last couple of hours. He stopped writing and contemplated his thoughts for a moment, then stood up and walked down to the lounge area, encountering Sandbar on the way there.

"Hey there, are you done with Twilight's homework?" asked Sandbar.

"Almost, I just wanted to see what you guys were up to" said Gallus. .

Sandbar shrugged and responded "Not much really, just chatting. Surprisingly our little contest hasn't come up".

Gallus gave him a cunning smile and added "Well, then I'll have to bring it up".

"Wait, you aren't going to challenge her to another round, are you?" asked Sandbar, worried his friend got any bright ideas.

Gallus scuffed at such an idea "Of course not, I want to keep my arm! But I think I know how I can beat her". He carried on towards the lounge area with the others.

As he entered he was greeted by Silverstream, inviting him to join them.

"Come in Gallus. Here, take a sit" Silverstream invited him to sit by her side, which he gladly did.

"So what brings you here Gallus?" Ocellus asked him.

"Well I was finishing Twilight's homework, but I thought I needed a break" Gallus replied.

"I'm surprised you still can write with your right arm after our little contest" said Smolder.

Gallus agreed "Yeah it's going to be sore for a couple of days at most, but don't think I'm done with you".

This startled his friends "What do you mean?" asked Silverstream.

"yeah, do you want a rematch?" said Smolder, letting out a little laugh.

He smiled and continued "Well, I was thinking we could do something else, not strength-related of course". Now he got Smolders interested, so he continued "We are both free on Friday afternoons, so how about we do a little race?".

Smolder liked that idea and immediately agreed. "Yeah, totally! That would be a real competition".

But Yone interrupted them by pointing out something obvious. "But, where?".

Gallus thought for a moment. "I was thinking we could do it over the lands east to the school. No houses, no poles or powerlines, and no air traffic".

All present agreed with the plan, and to seal the deal Smolder walked over to Gallus to give him a handshake, a rather strong one, almost pulling him out of his seat.

But then Gallus said "I have a feeling we'll need to keep track of our scores".

Ocellus volunteered to keep track as 'a neutral and objective party'. Again they all agreed.

The date was set, and so was the place, and with the leaderboard established, things were only getting started.